Ebook Gallery

We all had that moment in childhood didn’t we… when the pretty pictures in books suddenly came second to what the pages were actually saying. (Well, for some people, maybe that hasn’t happened yet.) But for a time, shorter or longer depending on the individual, it was a book’s illustrations which were a big factor in what drew us to a particular book.

William Blake
Illustration from The Book of Ahania, plate 2, 1795.
Intaglio etchings, designs colour-printed, 28.8 x 23.2 cm.
Rosenwald Collection, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

My personal favourites as a child included such gems as Puddle Lane, the Berenstain Bears, and Andy Ant, and then as I got older, I loved the Wind in the Willows for its beautiful illustrations – as well as for its story. And then finally, we come to the point where pictures are no longer required; we prefer to imagine what the characters in a story look like for ourselves, create our own storybook landscape in our minds, and revel in the fact that we, with the guidance of the author, were able to design a realm in which stories grew and became a form of reality. The imagination is a powerful tool indeed!

However, at some point in the evolution of reading, there comes a time when we begin to appreciate the beauty of illustrations in books all over again. But, this time it is for different reasons entirely. The artist’s ability to bring the author’s words to life can be astonishing, beautiful, and inspirational. By pairing this interpretation of the text with our own interpretations and imaginings we end up with a fully formed and deeper understanding of the overall picture.

So, this is my challenge to you: the next time that you open a book, and it happens to have a form of illustration in it, do not study one alone and disregard the other. Instead, take both illustration and the written word, and observe how author and artist have united to come up with the finished article. You may agree or not, as is your prerogative, but take the time to see at least that one person’s interpretation into account! After all, isn’t it interesting to see how one story can be read in various ways by different audiences?

William Blake
Illustration from The Song of Los, plate 5, 1795.
Colour relief etching, with added hand colouring, 23.1 x 17.3 cm.
The British Museum, London.

The Allen Memorial Art Museum in Oberlin, Ohio, is currently doing exactly this. If you’d like to discover more about the power of illustration, now is your chance. The exhibition Representing the Word: Modern Book Illustrations will be running until the 31^st July 2013. If you’re not planning on being in the Ohio area anytime soon, pick up a copy of Osbert Burdett’s William Blake to peruse from the comfort of your own home!

You’re tired. You want to go home and sleep off this week of relentless deadlines, but your friends insist that dancing will be much more effective. You go, you dance, you laugh, you still think about your pillows. There, across the room, their eyes catch yours and smiles slowly spread across your faces. You’ve never met before, but surely something so familiar couldn’t be imagined. You talk, you feel shy, you feel emboldened; you exchange phone numbers. You fall asleep before your head hits the pillow, but they left a smile on your lips.

Gertard ter Borch the Younger, Dancing Couple, 1600.
Oil on canvas, 76 x 68 cm.
Polesden Lacey, Surrey.

You date. You have the important things in common, including the same sense of humour – you laugh until your sides hurt and your cheeks are sore from grinning. You mark the time between absences. You send silly in-joke text messages. You get on with each other’s friends and are rarely seen apart. You can hardly get through a conversation without bringing them up because you’re just so damned giddy all of the time.

You fall in love. You spend all of your free time together. You buy things together. You meet each other’s families. You don’t miss them anymore because you know you’ll see them soon. You don’t feel jealous anymore, either. Some of your mannerisms have changed, but you hardly notice. You travel together, but equally enjoy staying in together. There are very few I’s or me’s – you are half of a we rather quickly, but effortlessly, so surely nothing could go wrong.

John William Waterhouse, La Belle Dame Sans Merci, 1893.
Oil on canvas, 112 x 81 cm.
Hessisches Landesmuseum, Darmstadt.

You want to watch a movie but they want to go for a swim. The walls start to crack, but you’re too close, too in love, to notice. The we’s are less. You spend more time with your books than with your lover. You’ve gained twelve pounds and just started to notice. Your work is starting to suffer; you can hardly get a good night’s sleep. You have to get out before the building caves in.

You’re broken. You miss them at random, inconvenient times and try to hate them but cannot drum up any good reason. You pick up the phone to dial a number that probably wouldn’t answer. You cry, a lot. You skip breakfast and drink your dinner. You lose fifteen pounds and chuckle at your ‘stroke of good fortune’. You question love and its lack of parameters and bounds. You read Tom Robbins’ Still Life with Woodpecker for the billionth time, and continue to wonder how to make love stay.

Carl Spitzweg, The Farewell, 1855.
Oil on canvas, 54 x 32 cm.
Shack-Galerie, Munich.

Go through the ups and downs of a romantic relationship from hopeful beginning to bitter end at We used to talk about love, on for a few more days (21 April) at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney. Indulge in beautiful artistic representations of the subject in the comfort of your own home with Love by Jp. A. Calosse, or Kama Sutra by Klaus Carl.

-Le Lorrain Andrews

*The title is a quote from Still Life with Woodpecker.

I have to admit, that despite my degree, I am not much of a news junkie. I found the news in the US entirely too depressing – as they rarely report the whole story or about anything that is worthy of the attention it is given. Seriously guys? The whole nation needs to be let in on the (what will sooner than later be considered an itty-bitty) scandal at Rutgers? Move on; leave Rutgers alone; it’s not relevant to anyone that wasn’t in that video. ::exits THAT soap box::

Peter Paul Rubens, Man in a Korean Costume, 1617.
Black chalk with touches of red chalk in the face, 38.4 x 23.5 cm.
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles.

So, when the grapevine informed me that North Korea was up to no good, initially I thought, “Hm, what else is new?” having been talked at multiple times about Kim Jong-un and his potential for shenanigans. But now, having looked into a little, learning that N.Korea told foreigners to get out of S.Korea and that no embassies seem to have heeded the advice, I can’t help but think it’s just a cry for attention, a glorified pissing contest amongst men of power.

Peter Paul Rubens, Portrait of Nicolas Trigault in Chinese Costume, 1617.
Black, red, and white chalk, blue pastel, and pen and brown ink on light brown laid paper, 24.8 x 44.6 cm.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

War falls in with the most asinine concepts to have defaced this planet as far as I am concerned. When war first began, of course there were deaths and casualties, but the threat did not affect entire nations. Now war has the ability to wipe out the world’s population – with the exception of those crazy ‘doomsday preppers’, and don’t get me started on them. It’s no longer a fight for land (and women?), but now a fight for, what? Pride and dignity? To show who has less regard for human life? Get over that, too, you barbarians. Excuse me gentlemen of the world (and I use that term very loosely), please fix your own countries before messing with the balance of others.

See? He’s really just misunderstood.

Appreciate the lure and beauty of the east without the unnecessary aspects of war in Looking East: Rubens’s Encounter with Asia, now on at the Getty Center through 9 June. Though he’s never been, and you’ve probably never been, it is surely a sight worth seeing. Also, add Rubens by Victoria Charles to your collection this fall!

-Le Lorrain Andrews

The Role Model Essay. Yep, I can hear the groans now. Remember that wonderful paper that you had to write in high school, which perhaps even swayed the college acceptance letter towards a yes or a no? Well, that’s the subject I’m going to be pontificating about today.

I can smugly sit here and say that I never had to write such an essay. However, that does not mean that I never thought about it. Please, with all of the American teen drama shows/films/series, there is no escaping that one second of seeing the angst of ‘Who do I write about’ and wondering about it for yourself! (Possible references here may include Spanglish – you know, Adam Sandler, Paz Vega; Gilmore Girls with the incomparable Alexis Bledel; Dawson’s Creek – Katie Holmes, Michelle Williams, Joshua Jackson, James Van Der Beek; and there were a fair few essays in Boy Meets World!).

The obvious ones spring to mind: Mother Theresa, Bill Gates, Sports figures, Humanitarian Actors and Actresses, etc. Great. All fine. But admittedly, for this kind of essay – as subjects, they are a bit overdone. So, in order to diversify somewhat, allow me to propose a lesser-known candidate. Ok, so, high school may be over, but I think that it is definitely worthwhile to pay attention to the hidden humanitarians and those contributors to the arts who have not been lauded as such. James T. Dyke is one such person.

Georges Lemmen
Madame Lemmen Reading, 1907.
Watercolour and gouache on paper.
Dyke Collection and National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Those who are heavily involved within the art world will, I’m sure, be aware of who this man is. For those of you who aren’t, allow me to explain. James T. Dyke is one of the foremost American collectors of 19^th– and 20^th-century French drawings and prints. He has been an avid collector for over thirty years, resulting in a spectacular collection of art. However, this is not why I believe that he should be put into the spotlight. No, it is for his generosity and commitment to culture that he deserves some recognition. It is his collection of French drawings which is in the National Gallery of Art, and it was he who made this exhibition possible. As Chairman of the Trustees’ Council, he not only made his collection available to the public, but he also permanently donated several of the pieces to the Gallery. What’s more, this exhibition is open free of charge to the public. His philanthropy is not purely arts-based however, as numerous donations in his name can be traced to medical sciences and the National Guard, amongst others. So, there it is – culture, generosity, and commitment to the arts. Could you ask for anything more?

Edgar Degas
Two Women Ironing, c.1885.
Pastel and charcoal on three joined sheets of brown paper.
Dyke Collection and National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

To take full advantage of the collection which has been made accessible to the public at Washington’s National Gallery of Art, head over to the Color, Line, Light: French Drawings, Watercolors, and Pastels from Delacroix to Signac exhibition. It will be running until the 26^th May 2013, so you can still make it! However, a peek at Victoria Charles’ French Painting could prove to be somewhat easier if you don’t happen to live in the D.C. area.

Islam: What has it given us? Other than the obvious furious debates surrounding it and hatred in Western countries which has stemmed from some spectacular ignorance…

But that’s another story.

Today, I don’t want to kick-start a massive hoo-ha (in British English that word means trouble/ruckus, in case any Americans out there thought I meant something slightly off colour), but I do want to look at some of the lesser known facts and figures of the world’s second-largest religion.

Dervish’s Patchwork Cloak
Iran, mid-19th century
Cotton, Felt, Fur
Collection of Julius Heinrich Petermann, 1857
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Berlin

1.) Islam has been around for around 1400 years.

2.) This has led to the medieval Islamic inventions or discoveries of:

– Sulfuric Acid and Hydrochloric Acid. Chemists, you may say thank you.

– For art, Arabesque : if you’re unfamiliar with the design, just check out a Mosque… or the Spanish Alhambra!

– Marching bands. So you thought that was American? Think again! This has been around since the 1500’s… and was started by the Ottoman Empire (today known as Turkey).

– Coffee! The earliest evidence of knowledge of brewing coffee beans as a beverage comes from the Yemen, in approximately the 1400’s. Everyone: you may say thank you!

– The watch… this timeless accessory (bad joke intended) certainly has made it through the ages!

– The submarine. Ottoman Ibrahim Effendi invented a working submarine in 1720… Ok, so not exactly contemporary, but we’re out of the medieval period.

3.) Did you know that there is such a thing as a Burqini?! (Swimsuit for Muslim women, which looks a bit like a wetsuit, but is made from swimwear fabric.)

4.) The first Muslim Palestinian to win the Nobel Peace Prize was Yasser Arafat. This was in 1994.

5.) The first (and so far only) Iranian, and first female Muslim, to win the same prize is Shirin Ebadi. The rumour goes that her prize was confiscated in 2009 by the Revolutionary Court. Needless to say, this was later denied by the authorities.

6.) Some very well-known figures in Western culture are Muslim. These include:

– Muhammad Ali

– Mike Tyson

– Jermaine Jackson

– Dave Chappelle

– Said Taghmaoui (you may recognise him from Lost, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra)

7.) The Turkish architect Sinan, one of the most famous Islamic architects, built the Suleymaniye Mosque in the latter half of the 16^th century. This Mosque is still one of the dominant features of the Istanbul skyline.

Now, did you know all of that? If so…. Well done. If not, why not try looking up a few more fun facts? Disclaimer: not guaranteed to defuse all volatile debates, but dropping one or two nuggets of information into the argument may calm events down a tad. At any rate, isn’t it better to be thought of as rather odd, than start a game of fisticuffs in the local?

Child’s Dress
Turkmen, Afghanistan, mid-20th century
Cotton, Silver, Coins, Cowry shells, Pearls
Collection of Hans Burkhard
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Berlin

Art and architecture – with 1400 years worth of history, it is of course to be expected that such a powerhouse that is Islam would bring some degree of art history to the table. You can get an insight of just how much diversity and richness of art Islamic culture has produced at the National Museum of Berlin. Running since November 2011 (and currently still ongoing), the Muslims’ Worlds exhibition welcomes you! If Berlin isn’t your next port of call, why not get yourself a copy of Gaston Migeon and Henri Saladin’s Art of Islam?

Here we are again at the 17^th century, the time of Master Rembrandt and his many self-portraits. But, frankly, when I consider wanting to go back in time, I don’t fancy returning to the 17^th century. There were a tonne of wars. Famines in Russia, France, and Finland and a plague in both Seville and London. Shakespeare died, for crying out loud – I’m still mourning this loss.

Rembrandt van Rijn, The Landscape with the Three Trees, 1643.
Etching, drypoint, and engraving, 21.3 × 27.8 cm.
Collection of Marie and George Hecksher.

The Good:

• Jamestown, Virginia was established – which later led to a massacre of 347 English settlers by the natives (essentially score one and only)
• St Peter’s Basilica was completed
• Torture was outlawed in England (we’re still waiting for that in other countries)
• Cape Town was founded
• New Amsterdam was founded and soon thereafter renamed New York – I wonder what it would be like if it were still named as such?
• The Taj Mahal was started and completed
• The steam engine
• Bach and Monteverdi
• Rubens
• Donne and Milton
• Galileo and Newton
• (As discussed before) Ice cream

Rembrandt van Rijn, Self-Portrait with a Velvet Beret and a Jacket with a Fur Collar, 1634.
Oil on oak, 58.4 x 47.7 cm.
Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Berlin.

The Bad:

• The pilgrims arrived on the Mayflower
• Aurochs became extinct (I bet you don’t even know what they are)
• Mount Vesuvius erupted
• The Great Fire of London (which might be good because it got rid of that pesky plague)
• The Ottomans
• Louisiana was claimed by France
• Salem witch trials
• Calculus

So maybe a fair amount of interesting and positive things occurred, but the bad here weigh rather heavily. I’m much happier in the 21^st century, with the ability to look back smugly and mock.

Rembrandt van Rijn, Portrait of Hendrickje Stoffels with a Velvet Beret, c. 1654.
Oil on canvas, 74 x 61 cm.
Musée du Louvre, Paris.

Visit the de Young Museum in San Fran to see Rembrandt’s Century, through 2 June, whilst still enjoying all of the luxuries of today. Also, keep an eye out for Rembrandt by Émile Michel, out soon from Parkstone!

-Le Lorrain Andrews

The saying goes that “it” (the world/life/politics/beliefs/love and so on and so forth) is not black and white. But what if it was?

Surely life would be a lot easier. Rules and expectations would be clear-cut and to the point. If the choice of colour was not an option, all decisions would be a lot easier, right? If we look at old films, photographs, TV, and documentaries which were shot in black and white, we hark back to what appears to be a graceful and elegant world. Simple, classy, well-organised and put together: even the music that accompanies the films/TV shows/documentaries evokes a simpler and more innocent time.

Robert Doisneau
Picasso and the loaves, 1952
Gelatin silver print. © 2013 Gamma-Rapho / Getty Images
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

I know that in reality, life was not quite so straightforward… we had a Great Depression and a couple of World Wars to prove it. (It is true that as soon as black and white meet, shades of grey inevitably appear.) But, sometimes, it would be nice to imagine that back then, in the era of black and white, they had life sorted.

However, that is what we have art and film and photography for; we use it as a means to escape our own reality, or even as a means to help us understand it. If black and white highlights the contrasts then colour blends them together, so sometimes it is necessary to just take a step back and go back to black and white for a moment to see what is truly important.

Picasso understood this, and we can see this very clearly in his series of black and white palette explorations. He strongly believed that colour weakens the structure and independence of line and form, so he went back to the basics and a simple, but strong, palette. It can be seen through different periods of his work, from the Rose and Blue periods, through to Cubism, and even in Surrealism; thereby proving that this was not just a passing flight of fancy.

Picasso Black and White
Exhibition Catalogue
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

Picasso was to influence some very big names in the art world, including Jackson Pollock and Arshile Gorky, and their black and white pieces may be said to especially reflect the intensity of Picasso’s own works in these tones. His influence and experiments in the area of black and white on form and structure have filtered through into other areas of art as well. Photographers such as Annie Leibovitz have learnt that reverting to black and white can greatly enhance their composition and subject, which has certainly led to other photographers taking their cue from her (which I am sure that many female fans of Jake Gyllenhaall and Ryan Gosling are very grateful for!).

To find out more about Picasso’s mastery over monochrome, head over to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston which will be holding a Picasso Black and White exhibition until the 27^th May. If the Lone Star State is a bit of a hike, as an alternative, why not pick up a copy of Picasso by Victoria Charles?

Japan, in comparison with many other countries, is rather small, though it ranks tenth amongst the world’s highest populations. More fascinatingly, it has one of the richest and most eclectic art histories to speak of when considering it on its own. Yes, various countries in Europe do this or that, and Africa has a slew of artistic variety, but we’re just talking one country – 6852 islands, if you really want to talk about how amazing Japan’s universally-acknowledged solidarity is.

Utagawa (Ando) Hiroshige, Inside Kameido Tenjin Shrine, 1856.
Woodblock print, 34.1 x 22.2 cm.

Continuously infiltrated by other powers (China, Russia, Germany’s money, and the United States), art in Japan has successfully maintained a focused and healthy presence in the art world since the seventh century – which is not to say there aren’t older relics, but Buddhist art was the first to make an impact. From woodblock prints to Ukiyo-e, and calligraphy to shungas, at the end of the day I would argue that Japan had a larger influence on European art than the other way around. Just a few examples of this hypothesis include Degas, Van Gogh, Monet, and Mucha.

Katsushika Hokusai, The Great Wave of Kanagawa, originally 1826-1833.
Part of the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, no. 21.
Colour woodblock print.

Get over to the Tokyo National Museum to get a glance at the Highlights of Japanese Arts exhibition. Find yourself enthralled with mirrors, picture scrolls, and military attire. Can’t get enough art from The Land of the Rising Sun? Check out Hiroshige by Mikhail Uspensky or Forbidden Asia by Hans Jürgen-Döpp.

-Le Lorrain Andrews

Animals: We keep them as pets; use them for food, clothing, and transportation; we travel thousands of miles to see them on safari; gawk at them in zoos; revere them in certain religions; abhor them and call them vermin; experiment on them for medicine and for beauty; work alongside them in certain jobs; use them therapeutically; compete them; bet on them; cage them; free them; hurt them; heal them; study them; and learn from them. They truly are deeply ingrained into our way of life, and have been since the dawn of time.

Andy Warhol
Panda Bear, 1983
Acrylic paint and silkscreen on canvas, 24.9 x 19.9 cm
Bruno Bischofberger collection, Zurich

Our treatment of our (usually) four-legged friends, as a society, differs greatly from one country to the next. Whilst in America, dogs may be getting used to being fed from the table and being dressed up in all kinds of (some would say ridiculous) outfits, in South Africa they are regarded predominantly as guard dogs, and are kept outside. In places where animals run wild, they fight for survival, and fully own the great expanse of space which they are privy to. Outside of these far-flung lands, these same animals are locked up and fed and watered on a schedule that runs like clockwork.

Certain animals have found themselves with a celebrity status, internet memes being responsible for some (Grumpy Cat?!), whilst merely belonging to an actual celebrity works for others. Tinkerbell, for example, Paris Hilton’s prize pooch, has earned some big celebrity miles due to being constantly photographed in Ms Hilton’s handbag. Max and Bubbles are perhaps two of the more unusual celebrity animals which have been thrown into the spotlight, belonging to George Clooney and the late Michael Jackson respectively. Bubbles is the high-maintenance chimpanzee who had to be re-housed in an Ape Center in Florida due to aggressive tendencies, and Max was Mr Clooney’s beloved potbellied pig, and constant companion for over 19 years until his death (the pig’s, not Clooney’s).

Edouard Manet
The Cats’ Rendezvous, 1868
Lithograph, 43.5 x 33.2 cm
Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris

I find it extremely strange that, as humans, we treat animals with such different attitudes. In general, I think we need to start showing animals a little more respect. Yes, certainly let us continue to use them in our daily lives, but humanely – be it as pets or in zoos. (Is dressing an animal up and spoiling it really the best thing for that animal? I don’t think so…) And above all, we must be far more respectful of the natural habitats of many of the world’s animal species. Conservation is a term which people should definitely make a little more room for in their vocabulary! On behalf of all the unsung Maxes, Bubbles, and Tinkerbells out there, I’ll give a little shout out to Aretha Franklin… all together now, R-E-S-P-E-C-T…

To see how animals have been treated in art, you need go no further than the Fine Arts Museum of San Diego, which is currently hosting a comprehensive exhibition of Artful Animals until the 28^th of April. Otherwise, why not check out John Bascom’s Beauty of the Beast?

I’m supposed to talk about pretty landscapes and painters from the 17^th century until now that have slowly incorporated said landscapes into their paintings more and more, until finally Landscape became its own genre. And fine: nature is nice; butterflies, yay. Instead, I’d like to note that BP is sponsoring this. BP! The company that is ruining similar landscapes to the ones we’re meant to enjoy in the exhibition. Did the corporation’s discussion for putting this on the agenda include a “yeah, we better show them now before the destruction and decimation of our planet is complete”?

Meindert Hobbema,
The Avenue at Middleharnis, 1689.
Oil on canvas, 103.5 x 141 cm.
The National Gallery, London.

The extraction and ceaseless use of natural gasses and oil is doing palpable and appalling things to the environment and atmosphere. Nevertheless, as an international society, we choose to ignore the annihilation of our ecosystems and extinction of animals so that we can drive Hummers in already over-crowded cities and wear our sweaters in excessively air-conditioned rooms. We live in deserts but have lush, green lawns. We have large, rarely used but immaculately maintained personal swimming pools. We need BP as much as BP needs us and I think it’s time we become less dependent on one another.

Jules Dupré, Sunset after a Storm, 1851.
Oil on wood, 47 x 56.5 cm.
Musée du Louvre, Paris.

Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s amazing that such a large, well-known corporation is supporting the arts. I live in continual fear that one day I will wake up and society will not be able to provide music/art/drama classes for students and that museums and theatres will close and never open again because the skills will no longer be developed. But does it really have to be BP? Surely this is the most hypocritical exhibition to have ever existed.

J.M.W. Turner, Calais Pier, with French Poissards Preparing for Sea: an English Packet Arriving, 1803.
Oil on canvas, 172 x 240 cm.
The National Gallery, London.

I am argued out. How about you walk or cycle over to the Tate Britain to enjoy breath-taking landscapes in Looking at the View? Rather, sit in your own backyard or a park and read Landscapes by Émile Michel.

-Le Lorrain Andrews